half. a video artist placed cameras to capture daily life and this new shows comes this fall. have a good night. see you at 6:00. breaking news tonight. iran seizes a british oil tanker and stops another ship in the persian gulf a serious new provocation. one day after the u.s. destroys an iranian drone. president trump saying iran is nothing but trouble. growing concern tonight in a volatile region. heat emergency it's dangerously hot and humid in two-thirds of the country 190 million people now facing scorching heat major events put on hold and for some the worst is yet to come. al roker will have a look at thsurprising increase in marijuana use by pregnant women. relieving symptoms like morning sickness, migraines, and stress. >> i decided to consume cannabis, and within 30 minutes, i did feel better. >> but is it safe? and back on the team why the nfl decided not to

suspend rising nfl star tyreek hill after accusations of child abuse raising new questions about the league's policies. plus, outrage over lunch shaming after parents get a letter warning their children could be placed in foster care if they don't pay their school lunch bills. why is the district going to such extremes? >> this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt good evening there's breaking news tonight from the persian gulf region where things are becoming more confusing and unstable by the day. iranian forces have seized a british registered tanker ship and its crew in the strait of hormuz claiming it broke the law. they also stopped another ship it comes as iran disputes president trump's claim that the u.s. destroyed an iranian drone that threatened an american warship. the president issuing a new warning tonight. our hallie jackson has the latest >> reporter: ath strait of hormuz after iran seized a british tanker with 23 crew members onboard >> this only goes to show what i'm saying about iran.

trouble. nothing but trouble. >> reporter: the u.s. calling iran's move esculatory violence tehran had pledged retaliation after the brits seized one of its ships earlier this month >> we will respond in a way that is considerate but robust. >> reporter: it's the latest flashpoint in this already volatile region. a fifth of the world's oil flows through the strait of hormuz the u.s. downed an iranian drone yesterday. iran now predictably denying it happened and mocking the u.s. by suggesting maybe the navy took out one of its own unmanned planes a month ago iran shot down a u.s. drone bringing the white house to the brink of a military strike before president trump pulled back. he appears reluctant to sink into deeper conflict but today is warning against further escalation >> we have the greatest ships, most deadly ships. we don't want to have to use them. >> reporter: former national security adviser susan rice. >> each of these incidents in isolation are not especially alarming

in the aggregate, they are >> reporter: iran's looking for leverage and for relief from severe economic sanctions put in place after president trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal nbc's ali arouzi is in iran. >> iran growing more defiant more confrontational sanctions bite harder and the nuclear deal slips away. as far as the iranian people are concerned, well, they just want to see this standoff resolved. >> reporter: for now, a region on edge remains on alert >> and hallie joining us now is the u.s. doing anything differently? >> we have learned tonight, lester, the u.s. is now putting patrol aircraft above u.s. ships in that critical strait of hormuz in order to according to a spokesperson ensure their safety we're also now learning the u.s. will be putting troops essentially in saudi arabia. this is a significant step in what's being a controversial military relationship. lot of developments. >> all right, hallie, thank you. more breaking news tonight an american citizen accused of going overseas to join isis is back in the u.s.

facing terrorism charges in a new york courtroom our justice correspondent pete williams has late details on how he was caught. >> reporter: investigators say he went to syria to join isis in 2013 and help train isis fighters court documents identify him as ruslan maratovich asainov, age 42, born in kazakhstan a naturalized u.s. citizen who lived in this brooklyn neighborhood for five years before joining isis. he appeared in federal court today. prosecutors say an undercover operative working for new york city police actually met with him overseas and kept in touch with him afterwards. asainov is accused of helping isis set up training camps, rising through the ranks to become a top sniper instructor terrorism experts say it's rare an isis fighter from the u.s. is brought back to face charges. >> challenge to identify them and grab them and gain custody of them on the ground in iraq and syria. this is obviously a tremendous achievement in terms of law enforcement and intelligence.

>> reporter: his lawyer says asainov would not answer the judge's questions in court today because he doesn't recognize the judge's authority. he could face 20 years in prison if convicted lester >> pete, thank you. dangerous heat is sweeping much of the country tonight. 190 million people are at risk for extreme temperatures and in some places the scorching heat and humidity are going to get worse. blayne alexander is in chicago for this report. >> reporter: in madison, wisconsin, this morning, a mechanical fire at this power plant. >> transformer and active fire. >> reporter: knocked out power downtown on the hottest day of the year with the summer heatwave sweeping the country, today in kansas city, it feels like 110 in omaha and des moines, 114 former new york giants player mitch petrus just 32 years old has died of apparent heatstroke in arkansas after working outside yesterday. in chicago, the lurie children's

hospital is showing just how fast a hot car can kill. the air inside jumping from 80 degrees to 130 in less than an hour >> dehydration and the kidneys shutting down can happen pretty rapidly particularly at 120 degrees. >> reporter: just within what, like, five, ten, minutes 15 minutes >> we start to see the effects within 10 to 15 minutes. >> reporter: around the city salvation army cooling centers are ready. can centers like this ultimately save a life? >> i think so. i think so >> reporter: special instructions at this peewee practice in ironton, ohio. >> if you start to feel not good, stop. >> drink all kinds of water until the game's over. >> reporter: today new york city is under a heat emergency as these dangerous temperatures head east. and lester, here in chicago tonight, it feels like 103 degrees but this weekend, all of this warm air blows east new york city, they canceled the city's triathlon and central park's ozy fest.

and officials across the region are asking people to conserve energy to prevent power outages. lester >> nothing to take lightly all right, blayne, thank you let's turn to al roker al, when does this fever break >> lester, no relief for 190 million of this weekend. 34 states from the southwest to canada under some sort of heat advisory or heat warning tomorrow, heat indexes of 109 in d.c. 107 in cincinnati. chicago it will feel like 110. sunday, 111 in new york city 101 pittsburgh charleston, 105. the good news is we see some relief by monday for milwaukee, pittsburgh and binghamton. tuesday, the northeast is at or below average temperatures in the meantime, the heat nt>> something to look forward , al thank you. tonight the nfl says it won't suspend one of its rising stars over child abuse accusations. but the decision is raising some new questions about the league's personal conduct policy. here's morgan chesky >> mvp, best player of the year.

>> reporter: tonight the nfl cleared one of its rising stars. chiefs wide receiver tyreek hill won't be suspended or fined after being accused of breaking his son's arm. today the league saying, "based on the evidence presently available, the nfl cannot conclude that mr. hill violated the personal conduct policy. hill and former fiancee crystal espinal had been investigated earlier this year for child abuse, but prosecutors stopped short of pressing charges. >> we believe that a crime has occurred, however, the evidence in this case does not conclusively establish who committed this crime >> reporter: in an audio recording, espinal accused hill of child abuse. >> he is terrified [ bleep ] of you. >> you need to be terrified of me, too. [ bleep ]. >> reporter: espinal even saying he'll punch the boy. >> kept saying daddy punches me, which you do, when he starts crying, what do you do you make him open up his arms and you punch him in the chest. >> reporter: hill has denied all accusations of child abuse meanwhile, the kansas department for children and families say their investigation into the case is ongoing.

and the nfl's decision could reignite criticism of how it handles domestic abuse cases tonight hill says he respects and accepts the league's decision adding, "to my children, i promise you all i will continue to strive to be the best father, the best friend, the best role model, and the best mentor i can be." when training camp starts next week, hill's expected to be back on the field and the chiefs say he's welcome morgan chesky, nbc news. a pennsylvania school district is feeling the heat tonight for sending a letter to parents threatening to put their children in foster care for failing to pay their school lunch debt which some critics call lunch shaming. miguel almaguer has the story. >> reporter: the threatening letter was sent to parents at the wyoming valley west school district in pennsylvania trying to collect $22,000 owed by roughly a thousand students, the district wrote parents, "if you are taken to dependency court, the result may be your child being removed from your

home and placed in foster care." >> it's bordering on criminal, if you ask me. for them to pull that on families >> reporter: sparking outrage, critics call the letter lunch shaming, but the cash-strapped district says it needs the money. >> it might be a bit too heavy for some people. no one wants to take their kids away from them or to advocate that, but we were not getting a response >> reporter: with the national school lunch program serving 30 million children, 20 million kids qualify for free lunches. 2 million more for reduced pricing. a growing number of states have passed or are considering legislation banning lunch shaming. federal lawmakers are working on their own anti-shaming bill. >> messed up it puts a lot of pressure on the kids and the parents >> reporter: tonight, school administrators in pennsylvania are sending out letters of apology, but the last thing some parents want here is more mail from the district. miguel almaguer, nbc news. now to an nbc news

investigation on an issue of concern to millions of american families nursing homes. tonight, we look at one man accused of taking over more than 100 homes in 2 years and then running them into the ground leading to some painful consequences for patients. stephanie gosk has more. >> reporter: nurse grace williamson was working at this massachusetts nursing home in 2016 when a multimillionaire named joseph schwartz took over the business >> once they started cutting down staff and everything, conditions became very difficult to maintain. >> reporter: then in may, janine pettiford said she got a call from her cousin, john. >> he was quite panicked he said, i need help, i'm getting kicked out. >> reporter: and so were hundreds of others, all forced to leave five massachusetts homes when schwartz stopped paying employees according to state officials. >> this didn't happen only in this state this was the final state that he wreaked havoc through. >> reporter: from this office above a pizzeria, schwartz's business grew rapidly from running 11 nursing homes to over 100 in just 2 years. >> joseph schwartz --

>> reporter: but in a 2017 deposition for a malpractice case against schwartz's company that was later settled, he wouldn't disclose the size of his business >> you don't know how many homes you own now? >> no. >> reporter: to operate the homes, experts estimate state and federal governments paid schwartz's company hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars >> you just never think in terms of your children having to go through anything like this >> reporter: betty mcfadden's son was in a schwartz-run nursing home in arkansas after a stroke left him unable to move sanitary conditions were so poor in 2017 that inspectors documented maggots on her son's catheter the state later issued fines for neglect. do you think the people in the nursing home just ignored what was blatantly negligent care >> yes, i do >> reporter: by the middle of 2018, most of the chain was collapsing

state officials forced to take control. shutting down some homes and displacing hundreds more residents. in that malpractice lawsuit, schwartz says he took good care of the residents and denies there was anything improper about millions in cash withdrawals. >> you would take out draws, cash draws, from the facilities, right? >> yes >> when you're taking out draws, that does take away from some of the cash on hand at the facility to operate >> i don't think so. >> we need to have very strict rules about who's eligible to operate a facility, what the standards are for them, what the financial backgrounds are. >> reporter: she says what regulations they took against schwartz, handsful of state fines and canceled federal contracts, came too late the federal government says they have limited authority and each individual nursing home is separately certified and held accountable. we wanted to talk to joseph schwartz we visited his office in new jersey, his home in new york, and this address in brooklyn, and we got no response advocates are concerned under

the trump administration fines for problematic nursing homes went down by 34% last year. >> facilities know if they're cited with a deficiency, with a problem, there probably won't be any consequence. >> reporter: nurse williamson from massachusetts has a message for nursing home owners like schwartz >> shame on you. i hope one day that you're not in a nursing home, and if you are, may god be with you >> all right stephanie joins us now so where do things stand with mr. schwartz >> the federal government tells us that schwartz still has a partial ownership stake in 50 homes. last year a spokesperson for schwartz says he doesn't actually own the buildings but he does manage the properties, lester. >> all right, stephanie, thank you. still ahead tonight, why more women are using marijuana while pregnant despite evidence that it's not safe also, dramatic scenes from a building on fire as a man scaled his way down and seeing a man on the moon from the perspective of a

10-year-old. he may look quite familiar

we're back now to tell you about the sharp rise of the number of pregnant women smoking pot. a large new study out today finding pregnant women turning to marijuana to ease everything from morning sickness to migraines despite no evidence that it's safe here's morgan radford. >> good job, angelo. >> reporter: it's a typical day for mom, vicki playing blocks with her son and smoking a joint. she is among the growing number of moms who use marijuana during and after pregnancy. for her, it's helped relieve epbilitating migraines andthrow. ter: she didn't want the morphine drip that doctors prescribed because she was afraid her baby would become addicted to the opiate. >> i decided to consume cannabis and within 30 minutes i did feel

better. >> reporter: tonight, a study of almost 300,000 pregnant women in northern california where weed is legal found that the use of cannabis has nearly doubled. >> cannabis use in pregnancy is associated with having a baby who weighs less. and there's also growing evidence that there may be an association with neuro developmental problems. >> reporter: women are using it to deal with morning sickness, migraines, and depression, which is why vicki joined mothers mary, a group based in canada where marijuana is legal nationwide. >> cannabis saved my life. if i hadn't gone the way of medical cannabis, i don't think i'd be here today. >> reporter: but researchers say they don't know whether cannabis an more effective than other >> i've seen my children, they hit every milestone. they're developing beautifully. >> reporter: a risk these mothers are willing to take. morgan radford, nbc news, montreal. >> we will take a break. up next, a man scales his way down a burning building. why some are calling him a real-life spider-man we're back

we're back now with the daring skyscraper climb to safety that has an entire city talking. here's ron allen >> reporter: as heavy smoke filled this 19-story apartment building in philadelphia, a man appeared clinging to the side of the building he's being called a real-life spider-man news choppers capturing the death-defying moment the man using balcony fencing and rails to inch his way down >> very dangerous. as he was climbing, i mean, that's got to be hard on your hands and your fingers and just got to hope that it holds out as you climb all the way down 200 feet from the top of the building. >> reporter: fire had erupted in a trash receptacle dozens of residents evacuated using the stairs the man says cameras didn't capture him climbing up the building to rescue his ailing mother on the 15th floor then seeing she was safe, he went back down some three agonizing minutes until finally reaching rescuers on the ground. safe, uninjured, and with quite a story to tell. ron allen, nbc news. >> pretty amazing feat

when we come back, my own memories of that historic day on the moon half a century ago.

so as we were preparing this week's coverage of the moon landing anniversary, i rediscovered a childhood scrapbook i kept about the "apollo" missions and rekindled memories of the moment through the eyes of a 10-year-old, so indulge me, if you will, as i share some of those reflections. >> three, two, one we have a liftoff. >> it was just this spectacular sight to watch the saturn 5 engines start to ignite and the

-year-old kid living on an air force base in alaska it was a place i looked up a lot. you could see the northern lights in winter airplanes coming and going on the base i was always enamored by all things aviation. >> we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other thing, not because they are easy but because they are hard. >> at that moment in time getting to the moon was a priority you could argue it was based in this race against the russians president kennedy made that speech and less than ten years later, in fact, we were on our way to the moon and on the moon. on that day in 1969, we gathered around our first new colored tv and watched it all unfold. the landing, the word that they were down, that they were safe the eagle had landed i do remember those words. >> the eagle has landed. >> i remember that was a moment of -- i'm getting emotional. i remember just the family all moon but we would just, as a family, jaws dropped watching this happen i think i started this scrapbook, you know, just

because of the giddiness of "apollo 11" then i drilled down a little bit more on the subsequent missions thinking that, knowing, understanding, that this was history. he planted a flag, just cemented that moment of enormous national pride. that, look what america just did. look what we did with these guys there. i think i took it as just this remarkable achievement as a 10-year-old boy, it was just this sense of awe i also remember thinking next up, mars we're rolling now. man, we're going to -- you know, we're going to visit these vast worlds and new planets and reach for the stars and this was the beginning of something bigger and bigger and bigger and to all the other 10-year-old space junkies out there, keep dreaming big we'll get there. that's "nightly news" for this friday i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching good night have a great weekend

right now at 6:00, busted in socal. tonight a stern warning from los angeles police. bay area thieves heading south to prey on new victims. plus a pothole in the middle of 880 brings traffic to a halt. when this part of the freeway d police went after him because of nothing wrong and says hayward what he was wearing and the lo skin. tonight body cam video appears to back him up. the news at 6:00 starts right now. good friday. thanks for joining us. >> raj and jessica have the night off. >> an unarmed east by a man says he was stopped not once by twice but police on the same day all because of the color of his skin. he took the city to court and

police body camera video were a key part in this case. >> yeah. today he spoke exclusively with nbc bay area's melissa colorado. >> the man says he was not doing anything wrong when police officers tackled him to the ground giving him some cuts and bruises, and he says police camera body video backs up his claims and shows that it was all because of his race. >> could have been another story on the news, another guy getting shot. >> reporter: he says he's alive today because he kept calm on the early morning of july 28th, 2017. cyrus and his friend were at this 7-eleven in hayward when two police officers walked up to him. >> you got any i.d. on you. >> reporter: before the officers approachedyr